So I just went through my Flickr account and changed the name of my iPhone set to iPhone 3G. I also tag all of my iPhone pictures with the very original and unexpected word, iPhone. Today I added a second tag to all of those pictures (699 of them), iPhone 3G.

My wife's iPhone 3G died yesterday. The battery just gave up the fight. She went to the Apple store in Salem and bought an iPhone 4. The very same iPhone 4 that I have been totally drooling over.

Today after work I am meeting my wife at the Apple store in Burlington (closer to both of our offices).

I wonder if all of this is related some how? I wonder if it means something? I'm wondering if I might have an iPhone 4 set on Flickr by the end of the night?

I gave my wife, my angel, my sweetie the sad puppy dog eyes last night. I gave her the jealous gadget geek. I gave her lots of, "wow, that is cool"'s and now she has agreed to meet me at the Apple store tonight so I can get a new iPhone 4 too!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

The kids went upstairs to their rooms about an hour before we did. One of them, I don't care which, and I will eternally assume it was both of them working together, decided to turn our air conditioner on without us asking.

Monday, July 26, 2010

We had a great weekend. Saturday at the beach with my brother's family and lots of adorable toddler time. Sunday flake day, at my very super smart step daughter's request, hanging out at home watching movies and just having fun being together.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

We're going to a beach today. Uncle John and Aunt Mary have invited us up to Maine to visit them. We're going to the beach and we're going out for sushi. I'll pass on the raw fish, but otherwise this is going to be great!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Last night our carbon monoxide detector went off. Again. This time we weren't using the stove or anything. We had no way of rationalizing it or explaining it. The detector went off and kept going off. There was nothing for it but to call 9-1-1.

We went outside to wait for the emergency folks to show up. First a policeman, then a fire engine full of firemen. The fire department brought along a CO detector and did a walk through the house. They found elevated levels in the basement that were high enough to require them to kick us out of the house and call the gas company.

The gas company showed up with a much swankier CO detector and found that the levels were not as high as the fire department unit saw. After waiting about 10 minutes he walked through again and found them much lower still. After another 10 minutes he walked through once again and the readings were zero.

So the in-house environment was once again safe. The problem, as pointed out by the Methuen Fire Department, was that a rental unit like ours requires a carbon monoxide detector on all habitable levels. Our apartment has three levels. The other apartment in our duplex has four. There were apparently only two CO detectors. It looks as though our landlord got calls from the gas company and the fire department last night. I don't want them to be pissed off, but if the law says one per floor, we need two more. Sorry guys.

(yes I know it's incorrect grammar to end a sentence on the word is. I have now done it three times and really do not care. I'm irritated and that is what is.)

Why is it that when I put the trash out the barrels are full of various refuse, and after the trash pick up on Tuesday I come home from work to find the barrels no longer full, but still 20% or so filled with various refuse.

Monday, July 19, 2010

It's Monday already. Three weekends ago was 4th of July weekend, a three day weekend. The weekend before last was our mini-vacation to New York, a four day weekend. This past weekend was a normal two day weekend, and damn was it ever short.

We finally, finally pulled off another game night on Saturday. It wasn't the full group in attendance, but it was a lot of us. Most importantly (from my self centered point of view) it included us! Jen and I have missed the last few and we were really happy to be able to get to this one.

We spent the day on a rocky beach in Nahant. I ruined a pair of shoes. Jen went in the kayak with Michael. Larry and Nawal's baby had the coolest inflatable frog pool and all of the grown ups agreed that they wanted one for themselves. Later Michael cooked on the grill and then we went inside and played an interesting scategories type game that was much more adult orientated. A great time was had by all, as usual.

Sunday was dedicated to my nephew's second birthday party. He got a bunch of trucks and trains and awesome stuff that all the grown ups were wicked jealous of. I will post a few pictures on the private page later. Until then, you'll have to settle for these...

When I got to work on this lovely (if a bit muggy) Friday morning in summery July I suddenly felt myself posing an existential question...

Of all the places I could be on the planet Earth, where would I least like to actually be?

I gave it some thought (for about 2 minutes) and came up with the following list:

1. Inside a huge volcano at the moment it begins to erupt. That would suck.

2. Sinking to the very bottom of the ocean (it doesn't matter which one) while wearing no sort of breathing apparatus and being crushed by the unfathomable pressure of the water above me. If you throw in a few man-eating fish it would make it worse, but only a tiny bit worse.

3. Falling out of an airplane without the aide of a parachute. Now this might be a controversial entry as it does not actually involve me being on the planet Earth. Still, let's all agree that it's close enough.

4. Stranded all alone at the North (or South) pole with no chance of ever being found and rescued, while wearing nothing more than shorts and flip flops. Some how its the flip flops that push this into the top five.

5. Sitting in this chair, at this desk, in this office on a lovely (if a bit muggy) Friday morning in summery July when I could be off having fun with my beautiful wife doing something leisurely and summery.

So I can't really say that being at work today is the last place on Earth I want to be... but it's pretty close.

We didn't go to New York on the third day of our trip to New York. We stayed in the general vicinity of our hotel in Stamford, CT. This included a visit to the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, CT and the huge mall in Stamford.

From the Aquarium... Seals!

Sting Rays!

Shark teeth!

Mini-shark!

African Penguins!!

Meerkats?

Yes, Meerkats.

Colorful frog!

Another colorful frog!

Sea Star!

Great big shark!

Jelly Fish!

Now, off to the Stamford Town Center, a huge mall. My stepson wanted this shot of Barnes and Nobel.

The mall has an amphitheater. The kids wanted a crack at the piano, but it was locked.

And we close with a random picture of the park outside of the mall, taken through a window.

The third day was a blast. The entire trip was a great time. I want to go again. RIGHT NOW!

You thought I forgot about you, didn't you. No, just needed to wait until lunch time to get my post in.

As a wise man (Douglas Adams) once wrote, "Time is an illusion. Lunch time doubly so."

Here are pictures from the second day in New York. The first day I had a charged battery in my Nikon! Hooray!

We thought it would be fun to take the Staten Island Ferry into the city. It was fun. Getting to the Ferry was a major challenge. Bridges and Toll Booths and Traffic, oh my!

There is a very nice 9/11 memorial along the water near the terminal.

I did not know this until we got there, but the complex is the home of the Staten Island Yankees. The New York/Penn league rivals of our local minor league heroes the Lowell Spinners. There was a game that night. I don't know if they were playing Lowell or not. I hate the Yankees.

It was a beautiful day and the view during the crossing was wonderful.

The highlight of the ferry trip was, obviously, the Statue of Liberty.

My stepson wanted skyscrapers? How's this for skyscrapers?

Obligatory blurry subway train photo.

The Flatiron building in the foreground and the Empire State building in the background.

The Empire State building. So humongous you can't even fit it into one picture.

I had never heard of Greeley Square before, but I liked it very much.

The view from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. We went to the top of Rockefeller Center the day before and had no plans to go up to the Empire State Building observation level, but once we were there we couldn't not go. Here we look down at the Chrysler building.

Looking up at the highest point in the city.

You can see people at the Top of the Rock.

Flatiron.

The Brooklyn Bridge... I think... isn't it?

Welcome to Times Square.

The Toys 'R Us ferris wheel was the reason for our visit to Times Square. Unfortunately the tickets on sale when we got there were for over an hour away. It was too long to wait.

We did get to see another T-Rex while we were there.

Our walk through Times Square took place during the start of rush hour. Talk about your mobs of people!

Random huge building.

Another random huge building.

Back on the ferry, looking at the financial district.

And we'll close up with a couple of pictures of the sun setting behind the Statue of Liberty. Day two in the city was another great day.